Unconventional
by GrowlingPeanut
Summary: [THIS VERSION IS THE OLD VERSION. Feel free to read it and enjoy it, but just know that I will be MAJORLY rewriting this whole thing before I continue.] [NEW VERSION SUMMARY] For Vault Hunters, the trials of daily life become commonplace. But none of them were prepared for war, conspiracy, myths becoming reality, and the existence of existence itself being threatened.
1. The Morning After

**A/N: **For those of you who knew that I wrote the first couple chapters _without _having played the game...this is updated. Because there were sections that were bothering me. For those of you who are new to this story, enjoy!

I'm trying to be as faithful to the characters as I can, which is difficult, but fun. Zer0 and Gaige make a great pair (and a new OTP to add to the ever-growing list) and I had a blast with Gaige's dialogue. Also, it's easier to write almost-natural-sounding dialogue in haiku that I would have expected. Who knew.

This started as a one-shot, and turned into a suspense-filled multi-chaptered thing. Some of it's fluff, some of it's intrigue, some of it's just plain smut. It's basically a character study and a "welcome-to-my-headcanon-please-enjoy-your-stay" and it won't be perfect but I hope you like it.

**As usual, read, enjoy, review, and share! Thanks!****  
****Disclaimer: Borderlands and its characters do not belong to me. I just like to borrow them and play with them.**

* * *

"...owe me my fifty bucks."

"I don't owe you nothin', _pendejo_."

"You do, because they _clearly_ just hooked up."

Zer0 didn't have a list of things he was willing to be woken up by, but if he did, an argument between Axton and Salvador would have been near the bottom. Thoughts floated around in his head, more distant and ambiguous than he felt comfortable with. Why were Axton and Sal awake before he was? What was this bet about? Why was it light out? Why did he have a stomachache? Slowly, he opened his eyes. And realized that several things were wrong. Several _critical_ things were _terribly_ wrong. One, everybody was staring at him. Everybody but Gaige. But that was because she was reason two. She was in bed next to him. Which brought him to reason three. Neither of them were wearing anything.

The stomachache (which had started as a fairly dull sourness) churned into sharp stabs of "Zer0, you're going to vomit in the next two minutes." He wasn't sure if it was due to the alcohol from the night before or the knowledge that everyone had now not only seen him without his helmet—fuck it—without _anything_ on, but now also knew about he and Gaige. So much for that façade.

"Aaaaannd….the moment of realization," Axton announced. "Mornin', you skinny stud." He punched Zer0 lightly on the shoulder, grinning much too enthusiastically.

What Zer0 wouldn't have given to go invisible without the stealth suit. "If you all leave now / I won't have to kill someone / Give us a minute." His voice sounded foreign. He coughed.

Axton heaved a huge sigh and moved to round everyone up. "You heard him. Get outta here. We can all hear about it later at Moxxi's. And you do owe me that fifty, Sal. And you may as well toss in another ten or twenty since he's not a robot…"

One by one, the other Vault Hunters filed out of the room, but not without shooting a few parting glances over their shoulders as they did so. Axton went so far as to add a thoroughly disturbing wink and a thumbs-up as he left. Zer0 may have rolled his eyes at the gesture had he not felt so sick.

So instead he rubbed his temples and sat up. Well. _Tried_ to. The slight rush of adrenaline from the awakening was wearing away to the heavy throb of what he knew was going to be a _killer_ headache. And in light of that, sitting probably wasn't the best idea. Unless he wanted to ensure the progression of his persistent nausea into certain vomiting. Which he didn't. So he just laid there and tried to think of anything but the alcohol forcing his stomach into backflips. Unfortunately, the only other things he _could_ think of all had to do with last night. Which was only punctuated by the subtle warmth of the young woman still asleep next to him.

He turned to look at her. It didn't seem...real. She should have had her hair pulled up, not tangled around her face. Shouldn't have had mascara smeared down her cheek. Shouldn't have been naked. Not that he didn't like seeing her like this—she had more scars than he'd expected… She also shouldn't have had...oh, God, had _he_ done that? Well. Apparently he was a biter. Almost involuntarily, he groaned. And not because of the headache. Because he'd slept with—no, gotten drunk and _fucked_—Gaige.

Alcohol made things...tricky. Which was why he typically didn't drink. However, it also made things paradoxically easier. Last night had been weirdly natural. Now that he was awake and decidedly _not_ drunk, he didn't know what to do. Should he wake her up? Should he let her sleep? Should he fall out of bed, stumble to the bathroom, and attempt to throw up into the toilet? Yes, though probably not in that order.

Hesitantly, he reached out and brushed the back of his hand across her cheek, sweeping away the messy ginger hair. She stirred slightly, seeming almost reluctant, even while only half-conscious. He cleared his throat and turned over, propping himself up on his elbow. "Gaige?"

Her lips moved, just barely, and she fidgeted again.

"Gaige..." He felt like if he attempted to say anything more complicated than one-syllable words, the words wouldn't be the only things coming out of his mouth. That earlier haiku had been bad enough.

Thankfully, he didn't have to say much more, because after a moment, she stretched and turned toward him. Her lashes fluttered, and (with a sigh) she opened her eyes, squinting up at him.

* * *

Her throat was sore. Her thighs were sore. Her whole body was sore. Her whole...naked body? Oh, God… She groaned and rolled back over, staring up at the ceiling. She didn't know what she'd expected. That she'd wake up in her own bunk without a hangover and all of the events of last night would turn out to be a vivid dream? She should have known better.

She risked a glance to her right. Yeah, he was still there. "I meant good morning," she started again. "I just wasn't really expecting all this."

"That makes two of us," he muttered.

"But...it wasn't bad, right? All things considered? I mean...you had a good time?"

He just made a noncommittal noise and sunk back into the pillow.

Hmm. That...wasn't exactly the best start. She sighed. Last night had been bizarre. But fun. _Really_ fun. They seemed like they were hitting it off. Things had been progressing. Granted, they were both _trashed_ by the time anything serious started, so that may have had something to do with it. Still, he'd seemed comfortable. Comfortable enough to lose the helmet and throw back about a dozen shots. Maybe _that's_ when things had started getting serious...

"Everyone knows." His voice was muffled by the pillow.

She frowned. "Everyone meaning who? The whole city? The other Raiders? Just the other Vault Hunters?"

"Just?" He sounded insulted. "That's seven people."

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, then settled back into the sheets. "Well, then I guess that's that. Secret's out. About us and..." she gestured vaguely at him, "...you."

When she didn't receive a response, she turned back to look at him again. _This_ was the part that shouldn't have surprised her. She knew he wasn't human under all those pieces of leather; it was obvious from the hands and even more obvious once the helmet was off. At first (and in hindsight, she mentally kicked herself for this) she'd been a little disappointed that he wasn't a robot. Or, at the very least, mechanically augmented in some way—a fellow cyborg. But the disappointment was quickly replaced with curiosity.

It took some strong liquor, but once she got him stripped down to nothing but his pants, she'd walked (weaved, more accurately) in circles around him, trying to take it all in. Perfectly-toned muscles packed inside an impossibly slender body. Long limbs. An angular face that reminded her of some sort of feral predatory animal. High cheekbones and a sharp jaw. Narrow pale gray eyes, thin lips, a straight, smallish (surprisingly cute) nose. Black hair cut relatively short and...oh. Yeah. The wings. He had honest-to-God wings. They lay pressed flat against his back; paper-thin, deep iridescent violet, crisscrossed with veins. Insect wings.

That must have been about the time she started asking questions. _Can you fly with those? How come you only have four fingers? What planet are you from? I've never met anyone who wasn't human and I've definitely never gotten drunk and_—

And then he'd kissed her. Probably to shut her up, but still. For a first kiss, she'd take it. Things got a little hazy after that, all she could remember was how warm he was and how he chewed her bottom lip. And how that _really_ turned her on. Between kisses (and licking and neck biting and everything else he was doing that she never would have thought he'd be so good at), he explained what he knew about his heritage...which wasn't much. Still, it was a pretty heavy confession, given that he'd been so evasive up to that point.

Not even the borderline-toxic amount of alcohol in her bloodstream at the time could have muddled what he'd told her. _Human-Eridian hybrid_, he'd said. She'd asked twice, just to make sure she was hearing it right. She had been.

Looking back, it hadn't been the answer itself that surprised her. No, the startling thing was that she _knew_ the alien half of him. She hadn't been expecting something so...familiar.

* * *

He took a deep breath, vowing silently never to let himself get that intoxicated again. He'd never had a hangover before, but he was sure this was a _massive_ one. The light hurt, the noise hurt...God, even_ thinking_ hurt. If he had to go out with the others today... He groaned out loud at that thought.

"You...don't sound too good. You're sure you're okay?"

"Never better," he growled.

She sighed again and he could hear her shuffling around in the sheets beside him. "If it helps, I feel like shit right now, too."

It did help, a little. At least he wasn't the only one.

"And I'm a little nervous," she continued. "We, uh...kinda screwed up. Not that I regret it or anything, it was great, but...it could've been a lot more subtle."

He just nodded dumbly. That was an understatement. In all of five seconds, his entire image was burning in a heap behind him. There was no more mystery surrounding him and no more subtlety regarding his relationship with Gaige...if they could even have considered themselves to be _in_ a relationship before all this happened. Not to mention that Gaige was also utterly incapable of being subtle, try as she might.

He heard her move again. "You know, I meant everything I said last night. About you being perfect and sexy and all that. It wasn't just the booze talking." She reached out and started playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. He tensed, and not just because the fingers of her metal hand were cold.

"You're pretty much the most amazing thing I've ever seen..." she petered off, as if not quite sure where she was intending to go with the confession. "And, I mean, I knew you were awesome even before I knew what you were. The whole half-Eridian deal just makes it better, honestly." Her organic hand came into play, much warmer than the other. It slowly traced down his shoulder blades to the wings folded tightly against his back. Gently, she felt along the edge of one with her fingertips. "Wow," she breathed, sounding almost reverent. "These are gorgeous. I never even noticed how pretty they were last night..."

He wouldn't have known what to say, so he just stayed quiet. It was strange, having someone be so _okay_ with him. His appearance, his sketchy biology, his predilection for killing things. Violently.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked again. "I mean, if you need to go puke somewhere and come back, I totally understand."

"I need a shower." Without saying another word, he slipped out from under her fingers and half-fell, half-weaved his way to the back of the Raider HQ, trying to ignore her giggling behind him. He knew it wasn't really at his expense—she probably thought it was cute. _Cute_. He started to shake his head, but stopped with a moan when stars swam back and forth across his vision. People were supposed to be scared of him. They weren't supposed to be sweet; they were supposed to scream. They were supposed to beg for their lives instead of hanging onto his arm, chattering happily away about whatever crossed their minds. They weren't supposed to _like_ him. Yet somehow, that was Gaige's first instinct.

He slowly leaned back against the wall, swallowing the rising nausea. He just needed a cold shower (for a couple reasons) and sleep. And then, when he woke up...he would figure all this out.

* * *

She lay there silently on the bed, listening to him moving around in the bathrooms in the back of the HQ, thinking about what he'd said. Or, rather, what he _hadn't_. She shouldn't have been surprised. He was an assassin—people skills weren't exactly his selling point, but… She just thought she'd been getting somewhere with him, getting him to open up and actually _care_, and then… Who would have thought that sex would be a setback?

She heard him cough a few times, followed by a wet gag, a messy-sounding _splat_, and a low groan of disgust. She wrinkled her nose. Yeah, they definitely should have stopped drinking _way _before they actually had. She sat up slowly and listened to him dry-heaving for a few more seconds. He probably wouldn't want help. A moment later, she heard the water come on and the shower curtain rustle into place.

A soft knock on the wall startled her.

"Gaige?" Lilith's voice. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

The Siren appeared around the corner with a distracted smile.

"If you're here to lecture me, I already know what—"

Lilith's lips quirked up at the corner as she sat down on the bunk opposite Gaige. "No one lectured me when I hooked up with..." She stopped herself. "Well, I figure you're old enough to make your own decisions by now. I just wanted to talk about Zer0, if that's alright."

Gaige tucked her knees up to her chin. "What about him?"

Lilith ran a hand through her hair. "First of all, how are you feeling? Everything...okay? This was your first time, right?"

First time actually having intercourse with another person? Yes. First experience with sexual activity? Not even close. But it had been a while and she doubted the experimental things she'd tried on her own counted. So the young engineer just nodded. "I'm a little sore, but it's nothing I can't handle. We, uh...we fucked pretty hard, but he didn't hurt me or anything."

"Good." Lilith took a deep breath, then let it out in a short sigh. "Look, I'm just going to say it, and I'm sure you already know something's up…" She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb, then crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall. "It's pretty obvious that he's not completely human. At least to me, and maybe Maya. But...y'know. Sirens. Comes with the territory." She shrugged. "The others suspect something, but I wanted to ask you about it. Has he said anything—"

"He's part Eridian," Gaige blurted.

Lilith's eyebrows shot straight up and she sat forward. "Part Eridian…?" she muttered, almost to herself. "That's…"

"Pretty much impossible, I know. But it's what he said, and...I believe him. He's got fucking wings for God's sake."

If Lilith's eyebrows could have arched any higher, they probably would have. "Wings? Really. Huh, couldn't see them from our angle, I guess."

"Your angle?"

Lilith cleared her throat. "Yeah, we, uh, we woke him up. Well, no, not exactly. We all found you two, and then Axton and Sal started arguing about the bet they made… Those two idiots must have been loud enough to wake him up, I guess."

"Great. No wonder he's pissed." The mechromancer sighed. "You're not gonna tell anyone about this, are you? The whole Eridian thing?"

"Not if you don't want me to. But I'm sure rumors will still spread. You know how people are. I'll do my best to control the damage, but...well." The Siren rubbed the back of her neck. "Not always so great at that."

Gaige shrugged. "I appreciate it, Lil."

"No problem." She stood and headed for the door. "And if you ever wanna, I dunno, talk about stuff, you know where to find me."

"Sure. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Oh, and tell Zer0 good morning from me and that I can make him some coffee if he needs it. Looks like his hangover's real bad."

She nodded as Lilith left, then slipped out of the bunk and crossed the room, gathering up the clothes she'd practically ripped off the night before. She didn't remember taking them off so far away from the bed, though...unless _he'd_ been the one to take them off? And maybe he tossed them over his shoulder…? She shook her head and started dressing.

* * *

He heard muffled voices outside the bathroom. Both female. Great. He was now presumably the subject of one of those infamous "girl talks." He couldn't make out any of what was being said, but at this point, he didn't really care. The whole situation had gone as far downhill as it could, so there was nothing left to lose. He sighed and studied his hands.

Well, he wasn't seeing doubles anymore—that was a good sign.

He shut his eyes and leaned back against the cold tiles of the shower wall. What the _hell_ had gotten into him last night? If he were to go back in time and tell his past self that he would end up caught in a situation like this...he wouldn't have believed it. Not then, and to be honest, he still didn't entirely believe it now. Never in a million years had he ever planned on being caught naked and hungover in someone else's...wait. That was his bed. Nevermind. The point still stood, however. It was thoroughly uncharacteristic of him and it was _sloppy_. Stupid and uncalculated and risky.

What was even more disturbing than all of that, though...was the fact that he didn't entirely regret it. Of all the people he could have woken up next to, Gaige was a good option. She was...different. Special. He'd seen it early on. She was brilliant and curious and energetic, and in general, the most accepting person he'd ever met. Fuck, she took the wings in better stride than _he_ had the first time he saw them. He hadn't tried to cut them off or anything, but he put his armor back on as fast as he could and tried to forget they were there. Still, they itched.

A momentary pang of guilt shot through him. He shouldn't have been such an asshole to her this morning. Not that he'd _tried_ to be, but...sometimes, it just came a little too naturally to him. They were both feeling horrible, had both woken up in the same predicament, and he had no justification for acting like a jerk. It was more of a defense mechanism. It allowed him to take a mental step back and think about what had happened and what the next logical steps were and...she knew that, right? She knew how he worked. They'd known each other for a few years, now… They'd worked their way up through the ranks of "strangers on the same mission" to Vault Hunters to Crimson Raiders to teammates to partners to friends to...whatever this was.

Gaige had been convinced for a few weeks prior that they had started dating. Technically, that wasn't true. Sure, they spent a lot of time together, went out hunting together, and he may have started responding to her flirting with some of his own, but… God, why hadn't he seen it sooner? Without having gone on any actual dates, they were pretty much dating. Well, that sure complicated things.

He rubbed his eyes and turned off the water. He needed to talk to her.

* * *

She glanced over when she heard the water turn off. He stepped out from behind the curtain a second later. Her rational mind told her that there was no part of him she hadn't already seen as of last night, but another part of her brain was still yelling "_whoa, naked guy!_" and she blushed a little as their eyes met. She cleared her throat and pulled on her shirt. "Feeling any better? Sounds like you threw up a few of those shots you took last night. That had to have helped a little."

He just raised an eyebrow and murmured, "That explains a lot."

Gaige nodded. "Yup. Lots of shots. Honestly kinda surprised you didn't end up puking 'em all up before now. Or last night in bed. That woulda sucked."

"You shouldn't have let me take them."

She grinned and laughed nervously. "Kinda wanted to see how many you'd do. For someone who claims he doesn't drink, you sure can hold your alcohol. Y'know, until you wake up."

He snorted and stepped out of view for a moment, then reappeared wrapped in a towel.

Gaige watched him for a minute. She didn't know what to say or how to say it. Were they official now? Was this just a one-time thing? Would he ever want to be seen in public with her again? Had she assumed too much and read too far into the flirting? Was he going to kill her now that she knew what he was? "Uh, Lilith says good morning and she can make you coffee," she finally said.

He glanced up, but didn't say anything.

Gaige bit her lip. Might as well just get it out of the way. "I also told her what you told me last night."

"About what I am?"

She nodded. "She already suspected. And she said she'd try to keep the rumors to a minimum. I hope you don't mind."

He stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowed, and Gaige was almost worried he would try to kill her. Then he sighed and shook his head. "It's fine."

"You sure? It is kinda a big deal."

"Secrets can't be kept forever."

* * *

There were a few minutes of somewhat tense silence before Gaige, again, broke it. "So...you had fun last night?"

"I did. Surprisingly." He hung up the towel and wandered around the room, picking up the various articles of clothing he'd discarded throughout the night.

"That's, um...that's good. I just wanted to make sure since you seemed kinda...off this morning. I figured it was just because of the hangover..." Her voice tapered into silence again and he didn't have to look at her to know she was staring.

His profession and lifestyle had given him enough awareness to know when someone was watching him. And...if he was going to be honest, he had begun to like the feeling of knowing someone _wanted_ him, strange and unfamiliar as it was. Sure, people had made passes at him before, he knew his body and agility alone were alluring, but he'd never felt inclined to indulge anyone, even if that just meant harmlessly flirting back. Gaige had changed that.

"I just have to get this out there," she announced suddenly. "Are we...is it safe to assume that we're...a thing? Like, an official thing? I know you said we weren't dating, but you've actually been flirting and we just had sex and I'd really like it if we did start dating, 'cause I really like _you_ and I don't want things to be weird between us just because of what happened last night."

Oh good. He wasn't the only one feeling like shit on the emotional side of things either.

"I mean, it's not like I'm gonna be really offended if you say no, but… Fuck, who am I kidding? Yeah, I would. You can't just be charming and sexy and then use me for a night and then forget about me. You'd earn some major asshole points for doing that and it _probably_ wouldn't be a good idea for you to get in my way on the battlefield, 'cause...I've been known to have _really_ bad accuracy and you might just end up getting shot—"

He sighed and paused in his redressing to look at her. "Gaige, please."

"Sorry. Sorry. I'll shut up and let you be the mature adult about all this because my judgment's a little out of whack at the moment."

Clearly. Also, her rather blatant threats had backed him into a corner. Not because he was actually scared of her. Besides, he wouldn't have turned her down anyway. Just because he had no experience with relationships or anything that went along with them didn't mean he wasn't willing to give it a shot. "I'd say we're official," he finally answered, pulling on his gloves.

She nodded and toyed with a string on her jacket. "I'll try not to be clingy and I'm sorry I just threatened you. It's just that this is kind of a big deal for me and I don't really know what I'm doing." She shrugged sheepishly.

"No, I understand / This is all new for me, too / We'll learn together."

At that, she laughed. "First haiku I've heard all morning."

"You missed one earlier. You were asleep."

"Well, it's good to have you back."

"Not quite. I need some of Lilith's coffee, first. And your promise to never let me get that drunk again."

"Right, of course. I promise. I'll, uh, go get some of that coffee. I know I could use some too. You just keep getting dressed. I'll be back."

He watched her as she left the room and couldn't fight the small smile that crossed his lips. He just might end up enjoying this.

* * *

He didn't remember the last time he'd had a dream. But he was certainly having one now—even his subconscious was aware of that. Maybe it was because he was worn out from (and sleeping very deeply because of) the "we-had-a-really-awkward-fuck-last-night-so-let-me-make-it-up-to-you" sex they'd just had.

Still, this dream wasn't a normal dream. Or, what he would have expected from a normal dream. Something about it all seemed...eerily familiar. Not necessarily the setting, which wasn't saying much, considering all he could see was a nebulous white light everywhere. No, it was more the voices. The distant-yet-somehow-nearby voices. They murmured quietly to each other, almost as if he was listening from the other side of a closed door. Still, he could make out every word that was said.

_"He's...performing well, so far."_

_"For being a prototype, sure."_

_"A living being can't be a prototype."_

_"Subject Zero, whatever you want to call him. He was the first."_

_"And the only male that survived, remember? So everything he does is important."_

_"What about the girl? That wasn't exactly...expected."_

_"No, but her markers show promise. She could be suitable."_

_There's a tangible pause, followed by, "He's going to find out sooner or later, you know."_

_"I know. Just keep watching him. When the time's right, we'll handle the...fallout."_

He woke up sweating, despite the cold metal of Gaige's mechanical arm draped over his chest.

* * *

**A/N: **Again, thank you so much for taking the time to read this and leave a note. The feedback is why I'm here, and hopefully my growth as a writer is evident in each thing I publish. (And additional thanks to my sister, **Farky-Fark and the Munky Bunch** for being supportive of me no matter how many times she rolls her eyes. Love ya, sis!)


	2. Far More Questions Than Answers

**A/N: **Chapter two, everyone! This serves as a sort of transition chapter for a more plot-heavy chapter three, and almost all of the Vault Hunters (past and present) show up in this one. I'm still trying to work out the nuances of all the characters, but I think I'm slowly getting the hang of them. As usual, any advice will be eagerly accepted.

This has also been edited since the first posting to match the heavily-edited first chapter. Things should be a little more lore-friendly and true-to-character now.

Many thanks to those of you who are now following the story, or favorited/reviewed: **CGAdam, Farky-Fark and the Munky Bunch, detramental, paradoxjr, Deponk, yama5, Shi-no-Ookami, A Soggy Sandwich** (I thought your name sounded familiar! Your Zer0/Gaige writing is wonderful!) and **Sgt. M00re.** I really appreciate your support, everyone!

Enough of my rambling! Onto the story!

**Read, enjoy, review, share!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, but I still love 'em.**

* * *

"So..." Moxxi leaned in closer to Gaige across the bar. "Word around town is that you got under a certain assassin's armor a couple nights ago... Feel like sharing some details?"

Gaige looked up from her coffee. "He's awesome. That's all anyone needs to know." She didn't feel like dealing with the bartender's rampant rumor-mongering this morning. Despite waking up late (according to her own internal clock), it was still dark (ninety-hour solar cycles were hard to adjust to), and she just wanted to drink her coffee in peace.

Moxxi sighed and retreated to a cupboard a few feet away, grabbing some dirty glasses and a cloth. "Still doesn't want to bare his secrets, huh?" Then more to herself, "Doesn't really bare much of anything. Except to you, of course, hon. At least tell me if it was worth it?"

"Oh, totally. I slept _so hard_."

Moxxi didn't say anything else, just smiled and started cleaning the glasses.

"_Buenos días_, _chica_." Salvador sat down heavily on the barstool next to Gaige. "Where's your freaky boyfriend?"

She shrugged. "He was gone when I woke up." She tried to tell herself that she shouldn't be worried about him. He could easily take care of himself out there. "And he's no freakier than you are."

"I dunno, I got all five fingers and my eyes ain't silver."

"His eyes are _what_ now?" Suddenly, Moxxi was standing right in front of them again.

"Guys...you can't do this." Gaige huffed. "And they're not _silver_, they're gray..."

Salvador raised his palms and leaned back. "_Muchacha_, it ain't our fault we walked in on you two sleepin' all tangled up together. We just wanna know what you know."

"He wouldn't want me to tell." She gulped down the rest of the coffee and slid to the floor.

"Aw, where you goin', sugar?" Moxxi called as the mechromancer headed for the door. "We're just curious…"

She didn't respond. She just needed a place to think about everything. Away from the distractions and the questioning. Since yesterday morning, more questions had been raised than answers. For every secret Zer0 divulged about himself, she had three more things she wanted to ask. Yeah, so he was part Eridian. Cool, awesome, great. _But how was that even possible?_ According to most sources, the last Eridians had died off _eons_ ago. However, she and a few select others knew that wasn't necessarily the case. Still, given what she knew about Eridians (and about humans, for that matter) it didn't seem like a hybrid could be a natural possibility.

And she had questions apart from the biological ones, too. How had he become an assassin? Why was he on Pandora? How old was he? Sure, she was _technically _an adult (all the others treated her like one), but she was still only twenty-one. For all she knew, he could have been thirty. Not that she'd ever held any qualms about dating older guys, but...

She sighed and wandered around between buildings and through alleyways. She wanted to talk to him. He'd probably be back in a few hours, but that was still too long a wait. Slowly, she meandered her way back to the Raider HQ.

The sheets on his..._their_...bed were still tangled and unkempt, as if silently inviting them to crawl back in together. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she thought about the past...well, _day_, really. _Half_ a day, even. In the span of about forty hours, she'd managed to take their awkward, implied relationship from a relatively tame one (subtle flirting, at the most) to one where they got drunk together, spent some quality time with their tongues down each others' throats, stripped down to _nothing_, and had sex. Twice. And that wasn't counting last night, either.

It was kinda fun—being able to live without inhibitions. Spending every day running around with a bunch of criminals that treated her like family was something she'd never realized she wanted to do. There was no one around to tell her to behave or...stop killing people...or not get into bed with an assassin...the kinds of things that her parents would have...oh. Her parents.

Her smile faltered and she blushed a little as she suddenly thought about what her dad would do if he knew about all this. He'd always been supportive of her (even when she cut off her own arm...or...had to flee halfway across the universe to escape the authorities), but she felt like _maybe_ this crossed a line. Dads were funny about stuff like that.

* * *

He sat on top of a hill. It was dusty, and there was a litter of skag pups playing about a quarter mile away, but it would work. He just needed a place where he wouldn't be bothered. And unless those split-jawed mongrels decided he'd make a nice chew toy (which would quickly result in their deaths), this was a good spot.

He hadn't wanted to leave Gaige still sleeping like that. But he needed to. For one, he didn't want to deal with all the talk that was bound to be going around town. Second, and most importantly, he needed time alone with his thoughts. He needed to spend a couple hours inside his own brain, figuring out what in the _hell_ he'd dreamed about last night.

If it was even a dream at all. This was the first time he ever remembered something like that happening. And he was sure that he would have remembered an event like that if it _had_ ever happened previously.

None of it made sense. Well, not much. He was making the assumption that the voices had been speaking about him. He snorted out a laugh. What else could "subject zero" refer to, besides him?

He sighed. He knew for a fact that he was not...normal. The Eridian DNA in his body ensured that. He _had _to have been...constructed, somehow. The thought made him sick, even though he'd known this for as long as he...well, since a few months before his arrival on Pandora. But this—he was reluctant to call it a dream anymore—gave him new information.

According to the voices, he'd been "the only male that survived." Did that mean there were others? Others like him? Were they all female? ….had they all died? Was he the _only_ survivor of whatever process had brought him into existence?

And what had they meant when they mentioned "the girl"? That part bothered him. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions, but he could only think that they _had_ to have meant Gaige. Their behavior two nights prior _had_ been unexpected, given the progress of their relationship up to that point. Also, what were her "markers" and why were they "promising" enough to make her "suitable"? Suitable for _what_? No scenario he came up with was a good one and he swore to himself, if anyone even _looked _at Gaige the wrong way, he'd pull their eyes out. Then snap off all their fingers. Then tear their arms out of their sockets. He'd only cut their head off when he got tired of hearing them scream.

Regardless of all the technicalities of what he'd heard, he was sure about one thing. Someone was watching them. Closely. How, he had no idea. But damn it all if he wasn't going to find out. And make it stop. Preferably with a bloodbath.

* * *

"MEAT PIES BAKE WITH THE SPINNING HANDS! ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND!"

"Cool it, big guy," Axton muttered, without even looking up from the schematic he was studying. "We'll eat soon."

"...I swear I did not say a word, Gaige," Lilith pressed. "No one knows what you told me. Any rumors are most likely Sal's fault."

"I heard that, _sirena_!" the gunzerker shouted from a nearby room. "And, just so you know, it wasn't all me!"

Lilith just rolled her eyes.

Gaige didn't really care if her friends knew Zer0's secret, but said friends did have a tendency to drink too much, _and_ talk too much, and once word got around...that's when things would get dicey. Her lover's biology could be a dangerous thing in the hands of the wrong people. Not that she had any clue who those people could be, but something in the pit of her stomach told her it _probably_ wasn't a good idea to share too much. Just to be on the safe side. The whole thing smelled like a potential scientific conspiracy the more she thought about it.

"Where is tall, dark, and lanky, anyway?" Axton sat up and looked around. "Hiding out somewhere 'cause he's embarrassed?"

Gaige glowered. "The way I heard it, he handled it with more dignity than _you_ would've. Besides, he could be invisible and standing right behind you right now."

The soldier laughed, but did glance over his shoulder. As if he'd be able to see anything.

"Leave them alone, Ax," Lilith chided. "They're both new to this—they don't need your teasing."

"Yeah, yeah…" he kicked his feet up on the low table in front of his chair. "Just havin' some fun. Didn't think we'd ever catch the freak out of his armor anyway, so how could I pass up the chance to—YOU _FUCKING _BASTARD!"

Everyone looked up sharply at the outburst to see what could have triggered it. On the table where Axton's feet had been only seconds before sat a cross-legged Zer0; looking as if he'd been there the whole time. Which...he probably had.

Axton was now standing beside his chair, pointing an accusatory finger at the assassin. "You can't just _do_ that!"

"I just did," Zer0 mediated, flashing a smile emote on his helmet.

Axton grumbled, but sat down again.

"I am not a freak / You should really watch your tongue / While it's still attached."

"We all know what we saw," the soldier countered, unruffled by the threat. "Right guys?" He looked around the room for confirmation.

"PRETTY PRETTY PURPLE PUTRESCENCE WILL CAUTERIZE THE CLOUDS!"

"We _do _know what we saw," Lilith began slowly, cautiously, "but that doesn't mean he's any more of a freak than the rest of us. No one here is what I'd consider _normal_. You don't call Krieg a freak. Or me or Maya. Or Gaige."

"Well, _he_—" Axton nodded toward the Psycho in another corner of the room, "—could kill me in three seconds flat—"

"Oh, and I couldn't? / Do I need to remind you / I'm an assassin?"

"—and the rest of you are cute chicks. There's a difference."

Gaige stayed quiet. As much as she wanted everyone to be on the same page, she couldn't allow herself to say anything. However, Zer0 had other plans.

"Gaige," he mediated softly. "Close the door."

She blinked at him. "You're not going to—"

"Trust me."

Slowly, she stood up and did as he asked, latching the heavy front door to the Raider HQ.

Calmly, he started addressing the other Vault Hunters. "You have to promise / That what you're about to hear / Never leaves this room."

They all looked at each other, mumbling, and slowly nodded their consent.

"Thank you."

* * *

"Y'know, for a second there, I thought you were gonna try to kill us all," Axton chuckled.

"Wouldn't have to _try_," he muttered. He glanced around at the circle of his colleagues. They were all watching closely.

"You never told us what you were," Salvador piped up from his left. "But if I had to guess, I'd say you ain't totally human."

Axton made a small noise of agreement. "Yeah, I've seen a lot of people in my travels, but none of 'em had a face like yours..."

For a split second, he considered just waiting to see if they guessed. But then he glanced at Gaige, still standing by the door. "Want to tell them?"

"Uh… Z, I don't think—"

"He's part Eridian," Lilith cut in.

The ensuing silence was the loudest he'd ever heard. No one said _anything_ for a full two minutes. They just stared. They hardly even moved. Miraculously (or maybe not—the silence was starting to get awkward), even Krieg couldn't find any nonsense to yell. Gaige just stood still against the wall near the front door, looking at the floor.

Finally, Mordecai summed up everyone's feelings. "How." It wasn't exactly a question.

His eyes darted between each of the other Vault Hunters. How much to tell them…? "I don't know," he finally answered. Lied. But they didn't know that. If he was going to be honest with himself, he wasn't exactly sure either. He had a _hunch_. But he could handle a hunch better than the rest of them. So he'd keep it to himself until it turned into facts.

"You know who could help," Maya started, standing up slowly. "Tannis. She knows more about the Eridians than anyone else."

"CLEAN OUT THE COTTON WITH CALIPERS AND CRUCIBLES!"

At this, Zer0 narrowed his eyes. Tannis was currently, thankfully, out at a newly-discovered dig site in the Eridium Blight, but once she came back, it would be extremely difficult to keep the others away from her. Well, he knew where he would be going once he managed to get out of _this_.

* * *

In Gaige's opinion, that had been a _really dumb_ move. She didn't know what would happen next. She wanted to believe that her friends would honor Zer0's wishes and keep this to themselves. But...things weren't that simple. People got drunk. Word got around. Consequences happened.

She sighed and dared a glance up at the group. Zer0 was still sitting on the table, crossing those ridiculously long legs, listening to everyone marveling over his new-found mythological status. She fidgeted. She needed to talk to him before the others got too vocal and wouldn't let them leave without making a scene.

Slowly, she walked over to the table and sat down on the edge of it next to him. "Can we talk?" she whispered.

He turned to look at her. "Everything alright?"

"I just…we should talk."

He stayed silent, studying her face for a moment. Then he nodded slowly. "I'll meet you outside."

"Yeah, okay." She stood up and headed for the door. She needed to get out of Sanctuary for a while. Needed a chance to be alone with him; to talk with him. Hopefully somewhere no one would be able to overhear any of it.

* * *

Five minutes later, they were both standing in front of the fast-travel terminal. "I need to go to the Eridium Blight," Zer0 said simply, navigating the screens.

Gaige shrugged. Not the most peaceful place to try to relax and wrap her head around all this, but fine, whatever. It'd be easier to talk there anyway. The bullymongs weren't likely to start gossiping— "Hey, wait…isn't Tannis—"

Her sentence was cut short by a flash of blue light and a split-second of dizziness. And then she was standing in the Eridium Blight. She wiped some ash out of her face and glared at Zer0. "Fuck you." She couldn't see his expression under his helmet, but she knew he was smirking. She could _feel_ it. She rolled her eyes and cracked her knuckles. "Can I please just talk to you now?"

"By all means." He walked over to a Hyperion locker and smashed the keypad with the butt of his rifle before prying open the door and pocketing what little ammo he found inside.

She sighed audibly. "I'm probably going to sound like a crazy person—"

"Nothing new there."

"God, you can be a fucking jerk. I'm actually really worried about you, okay?"

He glanced over his shoulder, flashing a question mark across his helmet. "I was just teasing—"

"I'm not stupid," she cut in. "I know there's something weird going on here. You somehow have the DNA of an ancient alien species and that can't be _natural_. And now, if it gets out—because you _told_ everyone—and people start hearing rumors about a guy that's part Eridian…" she tossed up her hands in frustration. "I dunno. I just feel like there are so many things that could go wrong."

"I haven't died yet / What makes you think I'll start now? / I can handle it."

She looked down and kicked at a pile of discarded cans at her feet. "I have no doubt that you can. But that was still a stupid stunt you pulled back at HQ."

"They needed to know."

"Why? Lilith knew. I knew. We're probably the two people that are the _least_ likely to go blabbering about how one of our Vault Hunter buddies is half Eridian. Why couldn't you just leave it at that?" She closed her eyes and tilted her head back with a groan. "I just…I thought that things would be _easy_ now. No more Jack, no more daily raids from Hyperion goons...only us puttering around trying to find the Vaults, but _nooo…_you had to go and be difficult, didn't you?" The harsh words didn't match her tone. And she didn't feel angry. She just felt…tired.

He was quiet for a long minute. She opened her eyes and found him just staring out over the landscape. "Lucky for you, we're going to see the only other person who knows as much as I do, if not more."

Gaige heaved a heavy sigh and walked up to stand beside him. "Tannis, huh?"

He nodded.

When Gaige spoke again a moment later, her voice was very soft. "I want to help you figure this out."

"And I'll take the help / But only the two of us / For now, anyway."

She turned to stare at him. "Why not the others? We're practically a family—we've all helped each other with personal stuff before. What's different about this? Besides, if some crazy shit ends up goin' down, you'd wanna have a couple sirens, Axton's turret, Brick's fists, and as many guns as Sal and Mordy could hold to back you up, right?"

He didn't answer for a moment. Was he being self-centered? She was right—the remaining Vault Hunters had formed close bonds. They all trusted each other. They were willing to come to each others' aid.

"At least think about it. I know you're more of a loner type, anyway. But no rush. Right now, let's just go see Tannis."


	3. And Then Some Answers

Mountains of thank you's to the following favorite-ers/followers/reviewers: **CGAdam, tydie1, Kadigan, Rem-Rei, Glaurung1, skylord303, La Victime, Jormungand, Suskan, mikashiro**, **VenomousStar, ScarletEden, otakuhelp, Kadeox, **and **MercuryPilgrim**. I'm so grateful for all the support you're giving this story!

**ScarletEden: **Thank you so much for your sweet review! I'm fairly new to the Borderlands fandom myself, but so far, it's been a really fun place to hang out—welcome to the club!

Okay! Chapter three. Things are getting' good. Gaige is finally getting some answers…

Also, this chapter is kind of my baby. It's the grand reveal chapter and that means I want it to be perfect. Please let me know your thoughts on this one—especially if there were any parts you found to be confusing (and I wasn't deliberately making them that way). I also want to hear any speculations you might have for some of those unanswered questions Gaige asks. I'm still in the process of developing this idea, and who knows, some of your suggestions may become official...

**Grab some popcorn, sit back, read, enjoy, review, and share!**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine, apart from the headcanons.**

* * *

A single notification blinked on his heads-up display. From Maya. "_Where'd you guys go?_" was all it said. He deleted it. If they weren't immediately needed back at Sanctuary, then the others didn't need to know where they were. They'd been driving for a while, fighting off the occasional rakk that flew too close to the road. Most of the other wildlife left them alone. Zer0 was draped across the truckbed, lazily sniping anything that bothered to glance their direction. Gaige drove.

"I never understood how people could live here," Gaige muttered, navigating through a mostly-empty bandit camp. She took care of the "mostly" with a few sawblades.

"Thanks to you, they don't anymore," he quipped, absently reloading his rifle.

"Heh, yeah." She swerved around a rebellious geyser that had decided to take up residence in the middle of the road. "So, how far is this dig site?"

"A few dozen miles into fairly isolated territory. Hyperion never bothered to map it. Take a right at the fork coming up."

"Right. Got it. Why'd the Eridians always built their shit so far off the map?"

"As if I would know."

She took a right at the fork. And ran over a skag. "So your alien daddy didn't ever tell you bedtime stories?" She deepened her voice dramatically. "Yes, son, we were very anti-social people that didn't like confrontation. Unless, you know, we happened to want to hook up with a human—"

He rolled his eyes. "You know that's not—"

"Oh, was your mom the Eridian? I hear the females are pretty. Very colorful."

"Gaige."

She let the technical coast down the hilly terrain and left it idling motionless once it lost momentum. "I want to talk."

He fought the very strong urge to sigh. She'd _been_ talking. All they'd done over the past two days had been talk. There couldn't possibly be more, could there? And it wasn't as if he was trying to withhold anything from her at this point...

She'd apparently taken his silence as agreement and continued. "Why don't you want everyone's help?"

"It's not—"

"Is it because you don't want everyone hurt? 'Cause that would be really out of character for you. You hardly ever care about crap like that. Or is it because you don't want us finding out what you already know?"

"If I'm not mistaken, I'm _taking_ you to Tannis. You're _going _to find out _everything_ I already know."

"Yeah, I know, but it's _just_ me. Why not the others?"

"Why the sudden obsession?" he grumbled, starting to get irritated. He was _trying_ to be "nice." He was _trying_ to be "thoughtful." These things didn't come easily to him. It also didn't help that he was starting to feel a little stressed as the events of the past few days compounded in the back of his mind. And here she was determined to interrogate him. "In fact, what makes you think _you_ deserve to know? Maybe none of you do." Half of him wanted to eat those words, but the other half was legitimately enjoying this rush of anger. It didn't happen often and...he almost liked it.

She turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Well, I was just running on the assumption that you're going above and beyond for me because, oh, I don't know, I'm your _girlfriend_, or something. But that's not a good reason to leave the others _out_ of it." She thought for a moment, cocking her head to one side and leaning back in the driver's seat. "And honestly, if you want to keep _me_ in the dark, too, that's fine. Whatever. I'll just leave you here and head on back to Sanctuary and tell everyone to forget about the whole thing."

"Gaige, that's…" he shook his head with an exasperated huff and tried again. "I originally didn't want to include _any_ of you in this. It's...a mess. It's dangerous—"

She threw her hands in the air with an annoyed yell. "My God, that's what I'm _talking_ about! This isn't just about _us_, okay? I want to know because things _could_ get dangerous. Fuck our relationship—I'd still want to know if we were just friends. Not that we can't be friends if we're dating, or that we weren't friends before—you know what I mean! _Everything_ about Eridians is dangerous and sketchy and this is less about me wanting to feel like an actual girlfriend than it is about me wanting to protect the people I care about! You and everyone back in Sanctuary _are those people!_ I want to know what we're dealing with so that no one else has to end up like Roland, okay? Or Angel. I knew coming down here wouldn't be easy, but I didn't expect to make friends. I didn't expect to have to see those friends _killed_ and _used_ and I sure as _fuck_ don't want to sit around and do nothing about this when it's very obvious that I _could_ do something!"

He was quiet. Despite the fact that her volume had risen to just below screaming, he felt the anger draining out of him. He couldn't argue. She was right. "Noted," he finally said, though it came out sounding more like a resigned sigh.

"And besides," she continued, much calmer. "We're willing to help, but you have to let us. We're all Vault Hunters. We're made for this kinda stuff. And we'll watch each others' backs. We just have to know what we're up against."

A few seconds of silence passed before he sighed and shifted. "We'll tell the others when we go back."

"Good." They started moving again.

He settled back against the wall of the gunner's turret, distractedly flicking the safety on his rifle. "You're not going to like what you hear."

"I wouldn't have expected a guy who's got Eridian DNA to have a life full of butterflies and rainbows, so I think I'll be able to handle whatever you hit me with."

* * *

Soon, the road became little more than patches of charred asphalt and Gaige had to slow down considerably to avoid hitting something wrong and send the technical rolling. "Seems like we should be getting close..."

"Another few minutes."

"How many is a few?"

"Fifteen, at the most."

"Mm." She winced as they bounced roughly over a small crater. "Why'd you drop the haiku?"

"I assumed I'd had all the enigma taken out of me by now."

She frowned. "Not necessarily. You've still got the ninja thing going for you. You still terrify over eighty percent of the planet's population just by _existing_, so I'd say you've still got it." She paused, swerving to avoid a large rock. "But it is kinda nice to know you can actually speak like a normal person. I also really _really_ like your voice without the helmet on."

"I'm not taking it off."

"You don't have to, but I like hearing the inflection when you do. It makes you sexier. And helps the sarcasm come across a little more clearly, which is always a plus. I don't have anything against monotone robot voices, though, just for the record."

"Was the consensus _really_ that I was a robot?"

"It was a theory." She shrugged. "The theory that happened to have the most votes."

"Hm."

They lapsed into silence once more. The road had all but disappeared and thin lava flows were starting to crisscross the ground. "You're sure we're going the right way? Might wanna—"

"It's at the top of that hill. See the ruins?"

"Oh. Yeah. Gotcha." She tapped her fingers against the steering wheel and chewed on her tongue. Here they were, alone, with plenty of room and time to talk and... "I'm sorry I freaked out back there—"

"It was justified."

"Thanks… I just...feel like these first couple weeks of this whole relationship thing are going to be really weird and full of us simultaneously trying to be nice to each other, but also being brutally, painfully honest. And, that's a good thing, right? That's how relationships should work, I think. But...I don't know. I feel like it shouldn't be like that for us. 'Cause we've known each other for a while, yeah? We should be past all this awkward crap. Heck, we saved a planet together. If that doesn't count as an icebreaker, I don't know what does. And, going on the theme of being honest, I feel like I'm gonna screw up a lot more than you are."

"I had no idea you held me to such high standards."

"You're proving my point," she groaned. "You can always be such a badass and say clever things and then there's me, flailing around and yelling when I try to have a civil conversation—"

"Gaige, there's a fine line between being able to handle everything with maturity and logic and being a sociopath. I'll give you three guesses as to which side I consider myself to be leaning toward. The first two guesses don't count."

She sighed. "You're not a sociopath."

"Ask my collection of severed heads. They'll beg to differ."

"I would if you actually _had_ a collection of severed heads. But you don't." ...he didn't, did he? "You're not a sociopath," she repeated. "If you _were_, then you wouldn't..." she trailed off. _You wouldn't like me_, she was going to say. But..._did_ he? He'd never outright said anything about liking _her_. He said he'd had fun the night they hooked up, but who didn't like having sex? What if...maybe she was just assuming…

"I wouldn't what?"

"You wouldn't like me," she finished quietly. "You _do_ like me, don't you?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

Right. Sure. It was obvious, wasn't it? "Yeah. Of course… 'Cause you wouldn't get hammered and crawl into bed with me if you _didn't_ like me, right?"

"Well, that may not have been the _best_ way to start this, but...essentially, yes."

"Yeah. Good."

"What, you thought I didn't?"

"Well, you never outright _said_ it."

"Would you like me to?"

"A little verification now and then would be nice, yeah."

"I'll work on that."

"Thanks." Silence fell for another short minute, but Gaige didn't feel comfortable letting it last. She had to get all this out now. Before they talked to Tannis. Before the issue of Zer0's mysterious heritage would become the main problem and make it difficult for her to smooth out the details of their relationship. Assuming their relationship wouldn't be strangled by the shitstorm of Eridian complications she knew they were driving head first into. "I feel like you mean a lot more to me than I do to you," she finally confessed.

"What makes you say that?"

"You're just...you're the loner who's never needed anyone and I'm the hormonal teenager in her first serious relationship. There's kinda a discrepancy there. A big one."

She heard him sigh. It was barely audible. "If I agree to ignore my preconceptions, will you promise to do the same?"

"...yeah."

"Alright. That's settled."

This time, the silence lasted a bit longer. He obviously didn't feel like talking much more, and she could respect that. She _had_ been kind of nonstop since that night, true, but only because she was legitimately excited about this relationship and wanted to make sure he knew everything she was thinking about—just to be on the safe side. She knew of too many relationships that ended up terribly because either one or both of the people _in_ the relationship weren't willing to talk and...she didn't want to be included in that statistic. She wanted to make this work. Whether or not Zer0 was "the one" didn't really factor in too much. What mattered was that she wanted to make this thing worth its while.

They'd reached the hill, which had turned out to be much steeper than it looked—more of a small cliff, actually—and the technical trundled slowly back and forth along the dusty switchbacks as they climbed. "So...is Tannis the _real_ reason you came to Pandora?"

"What gave it away?"

"Well, you had to have seen yourself in a mirror at some point and gone "hey, I wonder how the hell I got these wings, better do some research" and that's how you found the leading expert on all things Eridian."

"You're good."

She shrugged. "I'm more observant than people give me credit for."

"I'll remember that."

"So what's Tannis trying to find up here? Anything in particular? Just more Eridian stuff?"

"Presumably."

"She ever find your baby pictures?"

"You're hilarious."

"I thought so."

Gradually, the trail leveled out onto a flat expanse peppered with massive rock formations. As they drove past, it became obvious that these had been parts of buildings. Support columns, arches. They just didn't look natural, and Gaige would have recognized the eerie glowing etchings anywhere. This was definitely Eridian territory.

"You know, it's funny you should mention baby pictures," Zer0 murmured from the back. "Because I think I remember growing up here, actually." They drove into the shadow of a towering block of stone. "This used to be the city hall…"

"They have good meetings there?"

"Of course. Wrote excellent weekly news articles, as well."

She just shook her head with a small smile. It was a very good thing he had a sense of humor. Wonderful body and sword proficiency aside, she wouldn't have been able to date him if he couldn't return her jokes.

"There's her camp," the assassin announced after a moment, holding onto the rail of the gunner's turret as he stood up.

A small assembly of tents had been raised a few hundred yards to their left, and as they drove closer, Tannis emerged from the largest one, speaking into her ECHO recorder. Gaige eased on the brake. _Here goes nothing_.

* * *

Zer0 jumped out of the back of the truck before Gaige even turned off the engine. It was never a good idea to surprise the neurotic researcher. "Tannis!" he called, securing his rifle against his back.

Tannis looked up as they approached, her brow furrowing. She clicked off the recorder and glanced at Zer0, then Gaige. "Why are you here? Why is she with you? Why are you both so close to me?"

Zer0 backed up a few steps out of courtesy. Or self-preservation. Or both. "It's a long story."

She sighed heavily. "Tell the abbreviated version, if you must. I have a very long list of things to catalog."

"Gaige and I have started dating and she wants to know everything."

Tannis raised her eyebrows. "Certainly succinct, though I would have expected no less." Again, she looked Gaige over, a little more thoroughly this time. "However, I simply cannot understand why you chose this one as your potential mate. There are much more suitable females in your group. One of the Sirens, for instance—"

He bit his tongue. "Just tell her what you know."

The scientist _tsked_ and frowned, then brushed past them, stopping at a workbench to fiddle with various instruments. "From what I've found," she started, speaking to no one in particular, "Zer0 is a genetically-engineered chimera. More specifically, he was created using very precise genome grafting. A few chromosomes here, a few there, and you have a near-perfect mix of both human and Eridian, with the desired genes in their desired locations." Tannis picked up a data pad and turned back towards the two of them. "For example, his skeleton and musculature are predominantly Eridian. Eighty-five point six three seven percent, to be exact. The only areas that seem to be mostly human are the head and neck, as well as the—"

He cleared his throat loudly. "I can fill in the details later. She just needs a general overview."

"Very well… I took many samples—muscle tissue, skin, hair, nails, blood—"

"Tannis…"

She huffed. "Most of his organs are truly hybrid—half and half—and therefore require hybrid blood to function properly. I thought nothing of this until I was examining the blood samples I'd taken and found that there was an extra component to the usual cells and plasma that make up blood. The human blood and the Eridian blood didn't seem as though they would have been compatible—and they aren't, under the usual circumstances. Eridian blood requires something that would normally be toxic to human blood, but when the two are combined, the most amazing equilibrium is reached—"

"Eridium," Gaige breathed suddenly. She shook her head and took a step back. "My God, you have Eridium in your blood, don't you?"

"Precisely." Tannis turned to Zer0. "She's smart. You may have chosen a suitable mate after all."

He just shook his head. As much as he wanted to point out that Gaige was far from being his _mate_, now was not the time.

"But how is that even… I thought Eridium wasn't discovered until the first Vault opened. That was...what, seven, eight years ago? There's no way you could have…" The girl sank down onto a block of stone and stared at the dirt under her shoes. "Unless it somehow…"

"Regardless of how or when he was created," Tannis continued. "He has Eridium in his bloodstream and there is no way he could survive without it."

At that, Gaige's head snapped up. Zer0 winced. Maybe Tannis hadn't been the best person to explain all this. She didn't exactly know the definition of sugar-coating. Still, Gaige had claimed she'd be able to handle this. And he'd hold her to that.

"What do you mean?" the mechromancer demanded. "How do you know he wouldn't survive?"

"We used various methods to extract and separate the Eridium from the blood sample," Zer0 explained before Tannis had a chance to reply. "And if what happened to the blood is any indication of what would happen to the _rest _of me...it's safe to say I wouldn't survive."

Gaige stared up at him. She looked disturbingly pale in the warm glow of the lava floes around them. "What happened?"

Tannis looked at Zer0. "Since you seem so determined to supervise my recounting of this research, perhaps you should tell her the rest." She didn't really leave him a choice, because after declaring that, she promptly walked off, back toward the largest tent, adding a cryptic "besides, I have eggs waiting for me" as she went.

He sighed. Whatever _that_ meant. He settled himself on the stone block next to Gaige. "Do you still want to hear all of this?" It would probably be for the better if she heard it from him, anyway.

She nodded. "Yeah. It'll just take me a little bit to get it all sorted in my brain. Go ahead."

He cleared his throat and slowly removed his helmet, fiddling with it absently. This wasn't easy for him to talk about either, and seemed stranger every time he thought about it. Still, with more people helping, maybe they'd actually be able to make some progress and get to the bottom of all this. "The reaction was immediate," he started. "Once the Eridium had been completely taken out...the two halves started fighting each other, essentially."

"Fighting?"

"For lack of a better term." He thought back to the day he and Tannis had spent together. That had been years ago, shortly after his arrival. He'd sat in that little cabin, watching her preparing samples, running tests, scribbling observations. Tannis had been beyond thrilled that he presented such a perfect research opportunity for her. She may not have technically been a biologist, but that didn't mean she would give up the chance to work with him. He was probably the closest thing to a living Eridian she'd ever get to see.

He'd been excited, too, to begin with. He'd willingly given dozens of samples, eager to finally find the answers he'd been shuttling all over the galaxies in search of. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked out like that. The tests confirmed what he had found during his own research, but they also raised countless other questions. Questions that were, for the most part, more urgent and more disturbing than the ones he'd arrived on Pandora with. And then seeing this blood sample—his _own_ blood—do _that_ right in front of him…

* * *

"It was horrifying," he eventually continued. "The human blood cells started attacking the Eridian cells and the Eridian cells fought back. They just kept eating at each other until there were nothing but husks of membranes and plasma left on that microscope slide. We're assuming if something like that happened on a larger scale—if I somehow lost all of the Eridium in my body, I would essentially self-destruct."

Gaige sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. Then she let it out slowly. Very slowly. She had been ready for a strange explanation, but she hadn't really been expecting anything like this. Still, somewhere, deep in the back of her mind, she knew that he was right, and that she _shouldn't_ have been surprised, and that some morbid little piece of her psyche had been suggesting this theory ever since she'd started thinking about the possibilities. But hearing it come out of his mouth...it wasn't a half-baked hypothesis anymore. Zer0 was a genetically-engineered time-bomb, from the sound of things.

He looked down at the helmet in his hands. "I know it's a lot of information."

She just nodded and chewed on her lip and tried not to let herself panic. It _was_ a lot. And it was very serious, but she'd said she knew it would be, and she'd said she could handle it, so she would. She needed to be rational. What mattered was that she _knew_. She knew the basics. And a few minutes earlier, she hadn't. She was making progress. And she would find out everything she could while she was here. And the most logical place to start… "If the Eridium is in your blood, how fast are you losing it and how are you keeping yourself from imploding?"

"You sound like Tannis." He coughed and shifted his weight when she didn't respond. "I lose it as fast as anything else. Thank the hybrid kidneys. As for avoiding the implosion—injections."

"So you've been shooting up with Eridium this whole time?"

He nodded.

"God, you and Lilith are gonna have to join Eridium Addicts Anonymous," she muttered.

"If my survival didn't depend on it, I might consider."

She attempted a laugh, but it was half-hearted. "So...say you didn't have the chance to take your daily dose or whatever. What would happen then?"

He rubbed his thumbs over the smooth faceplate of the helmet. "It doesn't take long before things...go wrong. I tried it once, just to see how bad it would be."

She was almost afraid to ask. "And?"

"I started cramping, vomiting blood. I had muscle spasms and one of the worst headaches I've ever experienced. Fairly positive my heart started failing a few minutes in…" He breathed out a shaky sigh. "I never tried it again."

"I bet." Her voice sounded too small and far away. She swallowed. "How did you know when you were supposed to take it? I mean, it's not like whoever made you handed you an instruction manual and syringes full of Eridium and said "hey, pay attention to that or you're dead." And were you doing it from the time you were...born? Is that the right word to use? I mean, you had to have been, right? It's not like you got adult-onset Eridium-deficiency poisoning. And how could Eridium have been around since before that Vault opened? Unless you're actually eight years old and just look very mature for your age."

"I only know the answers to half of those questions and I think they're best saved for another time," he answered simply. "Let this sink in first. I know I needed a few weeks to get used to it."

"A few weeks. Right." Gaige forced out a mirthless laugh. "And you're the one having to _live_ all of this. You've got a damn good poker face."

"The helmet helps."

Under any other circumstance, that would have provoked a smile. Instead, silence fell for a few solid minutes. Gaige reached up to rub her temples. She wondered how the others would react when they heard all this. She could only hope they would be understanding and not cause a huge scene and… She just needed to trust them. And trust Zer0. He'd already shared much more than he had to be comfortable with and that meant a lot to her. She just needed a few minutes to think about this and think about what to do next and...gah, all the loose ends to this situation made her head hurt. "Who in the hell would _do_ something like this?" she eventually whispered. "And _why_?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," he sighed, standing again. "But I'm sure of one thing. When I find the people responsible…" He turned and looked out over the array of intricately-carved arches in the distance. And then he smiled. It was a small smile and Gaige knew him well enough to recognize this kind of smile. It was the smile that made her remember what he did for a living. The smile she knew he had to have under that helmet whenever he laughed after a particularly gory kill. It was the "covered-in-blood-and-loving-it" smile. "They'll have hell to _pay_."


End file.
